When I bought Windows 7 Home Premium (first version of windows I've ever actually paid for - bought 2 copies at £45 each with the pre order discount) you got both the 32 and 64 bit DVDs in the same box and a single license code, so I'm not sure they really count as separate products any more like they did with XP... You can't buy "Windows 7 32 bit" and "Windows 7 64 bit" separately.

Saying that though it could still get very confusing for your average consumer as to which DVD they need to install from...

Yeah, Windows 7 included both w/the purchase, but Vista sold them separately I believe and the 64 bit version of XP was something that came along down the pipe. I'm sure wikipedia will correct me if I'm wrong

When I bought Windows 7 Home Premium (first version of windows I've ever actually paid for - bought 2 copies at £45 each with the pre order discount) you got both the 32 and 64 bit DVDs in the same box and a single license code, so I'm not sure they really count as separate products any more like they did with XP... You can't buy "Windows 7 32 bit" and "Windows 7 64 bit" separately.

Saying that though it could still get very confusing for your average consumer as to which DVD they need to install from...

I bought vista a while ago and that says "64-bit" on the box, no hint of 32-bit, even whilst installing. I also get copies of windows 7 free (courtesy of MSDNAA) and those only come with one DVD in a box with EITHER 32 or 64 bit installs on said DVD.

Reboot final time, wait for screen to load, click on my computer... BSOD. I love windoze.

LOL. And true. Each edition will cost at least $129 for the upgrade.
And, I have actually seen Windows installer BSOD. No joke. It happened to me once while installing Windows XP, years ago. It BSOD while still in "DOS screen mode" during the initial setup screens, right before it asks you which drive you want to install Windows on. That was puzzling because during setup, ONLY MICROSOFT DRIVERS are running. Any BSOD is due to a bug in their drivers. Never going back to Windows.

I can imagine quite a few disasters during the process as numerous pop ups tell users they need to click here and there to update this and that and that this has failed and that this was unable to find a driver. Windows will no doubt try to run an update the current version for many at the same times as it is downloading the new version and none of this takes into account the anti virus software trying to do its thing, or even their things. I've lost count of the PC users I have helped that had three or four anti virus programs all checking everything even though most had expired, they simply didn't have the latest databases but were still chugging along competing for CPU cycles and disk access...

Oh this will be fun.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

Consumers will also be able to purchase the latest biography by Sir Walter Isaacson named 'Steve Ballmer'. With a working title of 'Monkey Boy: The Chair Tamer' Isaacson threw caution to the wind and really let his creative juices flow writing this epic.
"I really felt so connected to this Steve, much more than the last one. Steve B is so ruggedly handsome, when I look upon his manly visage, I feel all funny in my little bits.. Teehee! He is like a sweaty Ronald Reagan! Sigh!"
Critics have applauded the latest book which was overwhelmingly positive in it's view of The Man From Redmond.
When asked for comment, Steve Ballmer was characteristically concise with his response. While chewing thoughtfully on a banana, he scratched his privates and then pronounced "Steve like".
Microsoft representatives could not be reached for comment, as they dealing with a 'I.T Problem' back in Redmond. Rumours were swirling that all of the companies computers has crashed while tried to upgrade to the latest version of Windows.

I bought vista a while ago and that says "64-bit" on the box, no hint of 32-bit, even whilst installing. I also get copies of windows 7 free (courtesy of MSDNAA) and those only come with one DVD in a box with EITHER 32 or 64 bit installs on said DVD.

You bought Vista only a while ago? Are you a masochist or something?

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

It happened to me once while installing Windows XP, years ago. It BSOD while still in "DOS screen mode" during the initial setup screens, right before it asks you which drive you want to install Windows on. That was puzzling because during setup, ONLY MICROSOFT DRIVERS are running. Any BSOD is due to a bug in their drivers. Never going back to Windows.

Probably some hardware issue. Not the installer application's fault. Usually bad memory or HD partition has unmarked bad blocks, etc.

But Windows 7 was already offered as a digital download right from the start. I remember getting free copies of both 32 bits and 64 bits version of Windows 7 Professional off the MSDN Academic Alliance website years ago. And the installation process sure had improved over the previous versions. Can't wait to see if the stuffs they claim for Windows 8 are true.

But Windows 7 was already offered as a digital download right from the start. I remember getting free copies of both 32 bits and 64 bits version of Windows 7 Professional off the MSDN Academic Alliance website years ago. And the installation process sure had improved over the previous versions. Can't wait to see if the stuffs they claim for Windows 8 are true.

Did it actually install or just give them the data to burn an install disk the traditional way?

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

If I remember correctly, you get an ISO file which you could mount it on a USB disk or burn it onto a DVD prior to installation. Or is this article talking about some other forms of digital delivery?

There is also another option to do an install from an installation on the current version without needing an external disc. But it's nowhere as straightforward and simple as Lion is and Win8 will be.

PS: One thing I wish Apple would do is make creating a bootable installer disk/disc an option that doesn't require you to jump through some hoops. The directions are simple enough to follow, but you'll definitely need to look up the first time to know where to find the DMG and how to copy/burn it using Disk Utility. This is one area where MS is considerably more straightforward than Apple. It's great they have the Recovery Partition but having to re-download 4GB again if you choose to reinstall is a PITA.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

Yeah. They all appear in a grid which moves around when you change the location of any other icon. And they all look so similar to each other that you need to read the label, obviating the need for an icon in the first place.

Yeah, Windows 7 included both w/the purchase, but Vista sold them separately I believe and the 64 bit version of XP was something that came along down the pipe. I'm sure wikipedia will correct me if I'm wrong

Windows XP 64 bit Edition was a ridiculously expensive, never really supported that well afterthought if memory serves...

I've never seen 64bit vista so I wasn't sure how that was sold - One of my old laptops came with 32 bit vista preinstalled which I upgraded to Windows 7 at the very first public preview opportunity as even early alpha / beta windows 7 was far more reliable than vista.

Vista sucked big time... windows 7 is a vast improvement and a I find it a very stable and usable operating system all things considered... As I said earlier, it's the first Windows version I've seen fit to actually hand over cash for retail copies.

I've never owned a mac (boo, hiss!, I know ) so my experience of OSX is pretty limited to make any comparisons to windows of any version.